UofL students complain about unfinished apartments

LOUISVILLE (WAVE) - Dozens of University of Louisville students are angry and worried about their safety after trying to move into their off-campus apartments. Several students and parents contacted us, telling us their apartments weren't finished.

The project's chief operating officer said he's very disappointed. The Grove is operated by a large company called Campus Crest with private developments all over the country. The group said they are so concerned about what's happened that even corporate members came down and were helping crews paint.

Meanwhile dozens of students are giving their move-in experience a failing grade.

"It looks like Home Depot," Grove resident Colin McFarland said.

There were missing windows in the staircase, unfinished walls and bare floors. The developer said 23 of the 438 students were placed in hotels.

"We walked up to our room and there's no door handle on it," McFarland recalled.

Brieonna Jackson and her two roommates pay $650 a month each. She took us up four flights of stairs to her apartment. The elevators aren't working yet. Inside she showed us the work that wasn't compete like patchwork on the walls and unhinged cabinets. She also told us about the surprise left in her roommate's bedroom.

"Six toilets in her room and no one came up to help us at all," Jackson said.

She feels the money she's paid for this week is money flushed down the drain.

"They sold us a dream here and it was nothing like it was promised," Jackson said.

Chief Operating Officer Rob Dann said he's trying to make it right. "We take full responsibility and don't blame anyone but ourselves."

The group says they tried to make the deadline, and they had gotten the OK from the city for students to start moving in.

Now they're offering pro-rated rent for those who couldn't stay and said they have crews working around the clock to finish off the work.

“The most important point is taking care of the kids. That's what we're trying to do here," Dann said.

Making parents feel less at ease there was a resident who was robbed of $100 dollars at gunpoint Saturday night.

The robbery happened in one of the building where no one lives and is still under construction. Two men were later arrested for driving a stolen car based on the victim's description.

University police said the man who was robbed was not a student and that they have no idea what he was doing in a building he wasn't supposed to be in.

Police did confirm that the apartment complex had security present but that they were not near the unoccupied unit where the robbery took place.